[ Looks like they're not trying to hide the bullshit like they used to. - SD]

           From: https://tinyurl.com/4ad9dduf (theepochtimes.com)

===
            CDC Issues New COVID-19 Guidance After FDA Makes Change

   By Jack Phillips
   January 29, 2023

   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ([100]CDC) issued new
   guidance to people with weak immune systems, saying they should take extra
   precautions after a key [101]COVID-19 antibody treatment's emergency use
   authorization was pulled by another federal agency.

   The guidance again calls for immunocompromised individuals to wear masks
   and engage in social distancing, the CDC's revised guidance says, despite
   CDC-cited [102]studies and data suggesting that masks provide little
   effectiveness in blocking the transmission of COVID-19. Some former
   federal officials have said that the six-foot social distancing rule
   adopted around the United States in early 2020 was arbitrary.

   Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ([103]FDA) [104]pulled
   its authorization of Evusheld, a combination antibody treatment that is
   given to people with weak immune systems. The agency said that it is not
   effective against most of the COVID-19 Omicron subvariants that are
   currently circulating around the United States, including the XBB
   subvariants and the BQ strain.

   "Among persons with immunocompromise and their household members and close
   contacts, prevention measures including wearing a high-quality and
   well-fitting mask, maintaining physical distance from others (at least six
   feet), improving indoor ventilation, practicing frequent handwashing, and
   developing a care plan, should be considered in addition to receipt of a
   bivalent booster dose," said the CDC on Jan. 27.

   The agency added that "it is important to wear a mask and maintain
   physical distance from others if it is not possible to avoid crowded
   indoor spaces ... simple interventions should be used to improve
   ventilation in buildings and decrease SARS-CoV-2 transmission by improving
   air flow." The agency also again recommended that immunocompromised people
   should get up-to-date COVID-19 vaccines.

   The CDC advises that people who have a weak immune system and develop
   COVID-19-like symptoms to get tested for the virus. They should then
   receive an antiviral drug within five to seven days.

   "Early outpatient treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 with a
   recommended first-line therapy, ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid),
   or remdesivir (Veklury), or the second-line therapy, molnupiravir
   (Lagevrio), have been shown to reduce the risk for severe COVID-19,
   including hospitalization and death," it says. Some doctors have
   [105]expressed concerns about remdesivir, claiming the drug has
   potentially fatal side-effects like kidney failure.

   About 7 million people in the United States have a condition that greatly
   compromises their immune system, such as cancer, according to CDC figures.

FDA Pulls Authorization

   Evusheld, which the FDA pulled on Jan. 26, is manufactured by AstraZeneca,
   and it was first authorized in December 2021 as a pre-exposure prophylaxis
   against COVID-19 for people with weak immune systems and aren't likely to
   generate COVID-19 antibodies via vaccination.

   The agency said that as of now, the drug cannot neutralize a number of
   Omicron subvariants like BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BF.7, BF.11, BA.5.2.6, BA.4.6,
   BA.2.75.2, XBB, and XBB.1.5.

   "This means that Evusheld is not expected to provide protection against
   developing COVID-19 if exposed to those variants," the FDA said in a press
   release explaining why the drug is being pulled.

   "Today's action to limit the use of Evusheld prevents exposing patients to
   possible side effects of Evusheld such as allergic reactions, which can be
   potentially serious, at a time when fewer than 10 percent of circulating
   variants in the U.S. causing infection are susceptible to the product,"
   the press release stated.

   AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish drug giant that also makes a commonly
   used COVID-19 vaccine, said it was informed that the agency will decide
   about reinstating authorization of Evusheld if the prevalence of resistant
   variants in the United States decreases to 90 percent or less on a
   sustained basis. The drugmaker plans to continue to share relevant data
   with the FDA and other health authorities regarding Evusheld and
   SARS-CoV-2 variants.

   Monoclonal antibodies act by binding to the spike protein on the surface
   of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but the virus has been evolving, causing changes
   in this protein and affecting how the antibodies work against them.

   "AstraZeneca will continue to work with the FDA and other health
   authorities to collect, assess and share relevant data regarding Evusheld
   and SARS-CoV-2 variants," the first said in a statement. "Evusheld
   currently remains authorized in other countries where it is approved for
   COVID-19 pre-exposure prophylaxis and treatment, including the EU and
   Japan."

   In November, the U.S. health regulator also pulled emergency use
   authorization for Eli Lilly and Co's COVID-19 drug bebtelovimab, citing
   similar concerns.

Links:
100. https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-cdc
101. https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-covid-19
102. https://www.theepochtimes.com/fauci-couldnt-n...
masks-work-against-covid-19-lawyers_4888725.html
103. https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-fda
104. https://www.theepochtimes.com/fda-pulls-autho...
-its-ineffective-against-new-covid-mutations_5015212.html
105. https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/controve...
-plays-key-role-in-covid-related-hospital-deaths-dr-ardis_4646394.html
===

- Sean

... Be a team player.  It spreads out the blame.
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